Coronta "Tay" Cody (born October 6, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for six seasons. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 2000. He was selected by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the third round of the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

, and he also played for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the CFL.

Early life

Cody was born in

Colquitt, Georgia Colquitt is a city and the county seat of Miller County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,001 at the 2020 census. Colquitt has been the county seat of Miller County since Miller County was incorpora ...

. He attended Early County High School in

Blakely, Georgia Blakely is a city in and the county seat of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of 2020, its population was 5,371. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus, Georgia, Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27 in Georgia, ...

, and he played for the Early County

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team. He was listed among the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

s "Super Southern 100" as a senior defensive back. He was regarded as one of Georgia's top 50 prospects and received one of the higher grades from Jeff Whitaker's Deep South Football. He was considered the 12th-best defensive back in the country by Super Prep. He recorded 10

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s over his final two seasons. He totaled 70

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

as a senior.

College career

Cody attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, and played for coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Florida State Seminoles, Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FB ...

team from 1996 to 2000. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 1996. He appeared in seven of the Seminoles' 11 games during their

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four desi ...

season in 1999, and earned honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

honors. As a senior in 2000, he was a first-team All-ACC selection and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a defensive back.

Professional career

The San Diego Chargers selected Cody in the third round (67th overall pick) of the

. He played three seasons for the Chargers (2001–2003). He joined the CFL's

for one season (2005). He finished his career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2006–2008). Cody coached football at Bay High School in Panama City, Florida until 2012. He was the defensive coordinator and defensive-backs coach.

NFL career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cody, Tay 1977 births Living people All-American college football players American football cornerbacks Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Canadian football defensive backs Edmonton Elks players Florida State Seminoles football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players People from Colquitt, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) San Diego Chargers players People from Blakely, Georgia